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Barcelona Catalunya
FP317h 45m
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Formula 1’s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities system is “how it should be” after the FIA’s data placed Red Bull-Ford Powertrains at the top of the ADUO rankings, leaving it as the only manufacturer not entitled to the allowances. Toto Wolff said: "I think it was a protection mechanism, how it was intended to be, to avoid the 2014 situation that one engine manufacturer was having such an advantage and was running away with engine, with testing mileage and race results. We were on the good end of that, but this is what we wanted to avoid, especially newcomers coming in like Audi and to a certain degree Honda with Aston Martin, and Red Bull of course. That's what it is, and that's how it should be."
Fernando Alonso has been given a warning by the stewards for crossing the white line at the pitlane exit during FP2 at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. A stewards’ statement said: “The outside edge of the left front wheel crossed the white line at pit exit.”
McLaren's Lando Norris set the fastest time in second practice for the Barcelona GP but FP1 pacesetter George Russell was just 0.009s off behind
Fernando Alonso has been summoned to the stewards after second practice in Barcelona over an alleged pitlane exit infringement. Alonso was emerging from the pitlane with two Red Bull cars ahead of him and, in trying to move ahead, was deemed to have crossed the pitlane exit line, which is prohibited.
P1) Lando Norris - 1:15.426 P2) George Russell: +0.009 P3) Oscar Piastri: +0.057 P4) Charles Leclerc: +0.373 P5) Kimi Antonelli: +0.589 P6) Max Verstappen: +0.895 P7) Arvid Lindblad: +0.985 P8) Gabriel Bortoleto: +1.185 P9) Lewis Hamilton: +1.205 P10) Isack Hadjar: +1.248 P11) Nico Hulkenberg: +1.508 P12) Oliver Bearman: +1.519 P13) Liam Lawson: +1.541 P14) Carlos Sainz Jnr: +1.594 P15) Franco Colapinto: +1.625 P16) Pierre Gasly: +1.834 P17) Esteban Ocon: +2.112 P18) Valtteri Bottas: +2.799 P19) Alexander Albon: +3.364 P20) Sergio Perez: +3.835 P21) Fernando Alonso: +3.860 P22) Lance Stroll: +4.033
Toto Wolff says Formula 1’s ADUO power unit upgrade mechanism is the right way to manage performance gaps, and a better option than introducing balance of performance, after the FIA told teams at the Monaco Grand Prix it had benchmarked the Red Bull-Ford as the most powerful engine. Wolff said: "I get a rash allergy when talking about BOP, this is something that we should stay far away from in F1. It's a political mess in all the other series; it makes manufacturers go out of the sport also. If there is a mechanism that consists of fine tuning in order to make sure that nobody's embarrassed on the power unit side, I think that's the right way to go."
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli says Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have been supportive since he joined Formula 1, but have not given him specific advice on how to beat his Mercedes team-mate George Russell. Antonelli said: "No, we haven't talked specifically about that [how to beat George Russell]. He just said to keep doing what I'm doing, keep enjoying, keep being myself, and then the results will come. They've been very kind as well since I've joined the sport, and they seem to be very supportive as well. But they also don't want to - we're still competitors at the end of the day, so you still don't want to give too much advice."
Lando Norris says he expects to have to take grid penalties for using extra power-unit parts after reliability problems at the Monaco Grand Prix left him “towards the end” of his allocations as he tries to defend his world title. Norris said: "I have no idea about the future. I'm towards the end of some of my allocations, but look, I can't do anything about that now. As a team, we can't really do anything about that. We can re-maximise what we have. I'm sure at some point I'll start running into having to take penalties and take parts that ideally I wouldn't be having to, but that's just the situation we're in."
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the team is speaking to its lawyers about possible remedies for George Russell's Monaco Grand Prix result after Russell was given a drive-through penalty when a five-second pit-lane speeding penalty was not served correctly. Wolff said: "I just left when we were on the phone with our lawyers to look at what we can do for George. A drive-through, if it didn't happen at the end, is equivalent of 20 seconds race time. What would 20 seconds of race time have meant for his result? Do we think that we realistically have a chance of reverting the result? I don't think so. But we definitely have to give it a go if we see that there is a millimetre of chance to do so."
Williams team principal James Vowles says the team expects to unlock the FW48’s full potential around the time of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as it continues an in-season development and weight-reduction programme. Vowles said: "We're still overweight, but it's a significantly reduced number from where we were at the beginning of the season, but not where it needs to be. The good part of that is we will get the weight off the car. And when we do, there's good, what I would call free performance that comes with it as a result. I believe that as we go beyond the August break towards the Baku time, you'll see the full potential of this car come forward."
F1’s timekeeping operator FOM has said it will make “any improvements or refinements” needed after a pitlane speed measurement discrepancy at the Monaco Grand Prix led to several drivers being wrongly penalised for speeding. The issue came to light after stewards reinstated Pierre Gasly’s podium, ruling that a moved pit entry barrier shortened the measured distance into the first timing loop by up to 77cm, which overestimated cars’ average speed. In a statement given to Motorsport.com, FOM said the process had “identified a measurement discrepancy”.
Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen says the team wanted “clarity” and “justice” after submitting a successful right of review over Pierre Gasly’s Monaco Grand Prix pit-lane speeding penalties, which the FIA stewards later rescinded. Nielsen said: "All I can say is we wanted clarity, we've got it. And we wanted justice, and we feel we've got it. And we're happy with that."
Alpine boss Steve Nielsen said he would be “upset” if he were George Russell after Alpine’s Right of Review overturned Pierre Gasly’s Monaco penalties, with stewards finding a pit-lane measurement error that led to several speeding offences. Nielsen said: "I feel for [the other penalised drivers], we'll never know, I guess, whether their pit lane speeding was real or not, so it is just really unfortunate situations. Because it was all added after the race, but with theirs, George Russell, for example, we will never really know, and I don't know how you would begin to unpick that. Pit lane speeding is not appealable, which is why we use the Right of Review, and, I feel for them, and if I were in that position, I'd be upset."
McLaren and Red Bull have both lodged notices of intention to appeal the FIA’s decision to rescind Pierre Gasly’s Monaco Grand Prix pitlane speeding penalties. The FIA overturned the penalties after Alpine’s right of review, saying a Formula One Management measurement error meant there was “a significant delta in the distance used to calculate the speed” versus what “could be driven”. The change restored Gasly to the podium, dropping Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar to fourth and moving McLaren’s Oscar Piastri from fourth back to fifth. Both teams now have 96 hours to proceed or withdraw.
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